Challenging Convention: Lessons from an Unconventional Career

Sometimes, the best career moves are the least obvious and, seemingly, the most risky.

In 2010, Teresa Whitaker was looking to take her career in a new direction. While she had spent six successful years working on and leading our portfolio analysis team, she was eager for an opportunity that would push her out of her comfort zone. That opportunity came in the form of a new role on our then-nascent Marketing Research team, where, as manager of Marketing Research & Insights, Teresa helped shape an entirely new capability for our organization.

Today, Teresa recognizes that, while the move was unconventional, it was also one of the most significant milestones of her career. Not only did it give her confidence that her skills were transferrable, but it also taught her a lesson that she regularly shares with her colleagues: A fulfilling, interesting career doesn’t always have to be a linear one. Sometimes, what seems like the “right” next job can lead to career stagnation, while the “wrong” job can turn out to be a springboard for growth and opportunity. Taking her own advice to heart, Teresa has spent a combined 25 years at our firm, supporting and leading teams across investment portfolio analysis, marketing research, and investor relations.?

“What I’ve learned is that you shouldn’t always look for roles where you can do everything that's in the job description,” says Teresa, who is now the regional head of T. Rowe Price’s Equity Portfolio Analysis team. “You grow by pursuing the things you’ve never done before.”

Teresa’s advice is particularly relevant today. Recent surveys have found that for 13% of employees, internal mobility is the biggest motivator for staying in a role. Employers that make this possible to achieve under one roof can not only gratify their employees, but also benefit the organization and its clients.

Teresa recently gave us insight into T. Rowe Price’s role in her diverse and storied career, the lessons she learned, and how she paid her experience forward. Here’s what we learned.

KNOW AND EMBRACE YOUR PASSIONS?

While some professionals put more weight on trying to advance quickly than on job satisfaction, in Teresa’s experience, she found that there’s no substitute for loving what you do.

“First and foremost, you have to be able to answer a very simple question: What is the thing that gets you excited to get up every day and go to work?” Teresa says. “I’m not talking about specific job tasks like making spreadsheets, but instead the things that are more high level. In other words, what’s your passion?”

For Teresa, reflecting on her career has helped her recognize that she gravitated toward roles that let her build something new. Nearly every role she’s taken on—from portfolio analysis to investor relations—has offered her the opportunity to stand up new functions, processes, and teams.

For example, she stood up a customer relationship management (CRM) system for Investor Relations. Before she took this role, there was no standard way to account for the interactions our CFO, CEO, and/or Investor Relations had with sell-side analysts or large institutional investors. By leveraging the CRM system our firm’s distribution channels used, she was able to introduce a new process that allowed us to track, analyze, and report on our investor activities. This was an important step in establishing a solid operational infrastructure to support our investor relations activities.?

“That element is important to me. It’s always rewarding for me to build something brand new that nobody has done before,” she says. “Anytime I look at a role that I want to take on, I ask myself: What's the new part? What's the part I get to build?”

THINK LONG-TERM WHEN BUILDING PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

T. Rowe Price has more than 7,800 employees in the U.S. and its 16 international offices, giving our employees a robust, diverse network of colleagues to learn from and collaborate with.

Teresa’s willingness to explore and build relationships across this network has been a major success factor throughout her career. For example, in 2010, when beginning to explore what a move beyond our portfolio analysis team might look like within the company, Teresa’s manager worked with her to build a list of people she should meet and talk to about their work and careers.

On the list was our then-Chief Financial Officer Ken Moreland, who agreed to talk to Teresa about her interests, career goals, and what she would enjoy in a role. That conversation planted the seed for an opportunity two years later when Ken’s team was looking for someone to be general manager for the finance organization and build out an investor relations capability for the firm. Teresa applied and got the job. “The stars really aligned for me with that experience,” she says.

Today, those lessons inform how Teresa mentors early-career associates on her team. She urges her associates to build their internal networks—to make connections and build relationships that can open doors later.

“As a manager, I’m always looking to give opportunities and make sure they know that I am supportive of their growth and development,” she says. “Even if they ultimately leave my team, that's fine. It makes me happy to see people grow and develop.”

Learn more about T. Rowe Price and explore careers opportunities with us.?